Not Where I'm Supposed to be
by pinkhearts97
Summary: In the middle of the night, Cody wakes up...in his old room? Why is he back at home, and not on deck, where he should be?
1. Chapter 1

Cody Martin groggily moaned, as he slowly faded out of the darkness and back into consciousness much too early in the morning. Feeling ridiculously tired, he opened his eyes for a split second, not taking in the view before him, then closed them tight again, trying to get back to sleep. He ignored his dry throat practically screaming for water. After all, sleep was now more important than thirst.

_Why am I so thirsty at now of all times?_ Cody asked himself. _Especially after what happened last night?_ He would never forget what happened the night before, and he was still angry at Zack for pranking him. All he wanted was a delicious, refreshing banana smoothie to reward himself after spending so much time on his history project. Yet before giving him the smoothie, Zack apparently put some extra hot and spicy jalapeno sauce in it, as a little "joke". And the moment Cody took his first sip...FLASH! His tongue was on fire, and he couldn't stop screaming. He had to drink at least 5 glasses of water before the burning in his mouth finally died down.

Cody guessed maybe the burning had returned and was at his throat right now. It was, after all, feeling very hot in there. He decided to go get some water so this sweltering would go away. But the moment Cody opened his eyes to get up, he noticed something was very wrong.

This wasn't his dorm.

_Where am I? _Cody wondered, now very worried. His eyes opened wide to look around and see where he was.

And he found himself in his and his brother's old room. In his own bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Cody couldn't believe what he saw. _His old room?_ He blinked a few times, then looked around the room to make sure it was really the same old bedroom he shared with Zack long before. It indeed was. There were the 2 singular beds seperated from each other, the boyish posters and signs plastered all over the walls, and the huge mess of clothes and whatnot that remained on the other side of the room, while this side was spotless.

_Maybe this is just some weird dream,_ Cody hoped. He tried pinching and hitting himself a few times, hoping to suddenly wake up and find himself back in his dorm. But it wasn't working. No matter what he did, he still found himself in their room. It was not a dream at all.

_What? _Cody thought. _How did I even get here?_ Cody tried to figure this out. _Maybe I was kidnapped from the boat and brought here?_ _No, that couldn't be possible_. The S.S Tipton was last headed towards the Bermuda Triangle. If Cody were kidnapped from the boat, it would take too long to get him from the Bermuda Triangle all the way to Boston, especially with a portion of the path being on water. And besides, who would kidnap him only to bring him home?

So, he was neither dreaming, nor was he kidnapped. _Then how _did _I get here? _Cody asked himself. But he could only imagine.

Just then, Cody heard someone mumbling in the other bed. _Zack?_ Cody wondered as he slowly got out of bed, and crept over to Zack's bed. He saw his twin brother in a deep slumber, partly covered with his blanket and drooling over his pillow. _It _is _Zack!_

_So Zack ended up back home as well_. Cody had to wake his brother up and tell him what happened to the both of them. Cody gently shook Zack's shoulder, as he whispered, "Zack, wake up." Zack rolled over and moaned, his eyes half-open. "Ugh, Cody, what do you want?" He whined. "Zack, listen to me. For some weird reason, we've ended up back home." Cody explained. Zack now sat up on his bed, a look of confusion on his face. "What do you mean? We never left home."

"What?" Yes we did!" Cody argued, getting nervous, "We live on the S.S Tipton for the whole school year!" "No, the only time we went there was on vacation 2 years ago." Zack replied. Cody was getting seriously worried now. Why couldn't Zack remember being on the ship? "Listen, I'm telling you, Mom sent us to the S.S Tipton at the beginning of the school year, so we could go to school there," Cody explained as calmly as he could, "So we've been living there ever since the school year started." "Um, if we've been living on that boat during the school year, I think I would've remembered it." Zack responded.

_Oh no._ _This is very bad, _Cody thought, feeling ready to panic at any second. Zack really couldn't remember them being on the S.S. Tipton. No matter what Cody said, his words would not ring a bell in Zack's mind. But how could Zack possibly lose all his memory of living on the ship? Especially just overnight?

All Cody could do was stare at his brother in complete disbelief, and croak out several sentences that were just mere attempts to jog Zack's memory. "But we lived on the ship!" "And we went to school there!" "And we made so many friends!" "We had so many adventures!" "And plus, Mr. Moseby and London were there, too!" "And'-"

Cody was interrupted when Zack gave him a brotherly pat on the shoulder, wearing a small smile - or rather a smirk - on his face. "You just probably had some wacky dream. Now why don't you hurry on back to bed? And not wake me up again for the rest of the night?" Zack asked, looking rather amused that Cody seemed to be going crazy. Cody just simply nodded and stumbled over to his bed, collapsing on it by the time he got there. "Goodnight, Cody." Zack said. "Goodnight, Zack," Cody replied back, his voice full of worry.

While sleep soon took over Zack, Cody stayed awake for the rest of the night. He couldn't sleep at all, because he couldn't stop worrying about what was happening. How could Zack have no recollection of living on the ship? And exactly how did the two of them get home? Suddenly, Cody remembered what his brother had told him just before he went to sleep.

His life on the S.S Tipton...it couldn't all be just a dream, could it?


	3. Chapter 3

Just when Cody was finally falling asleep, a sudden, shrill sound had awoken him. Feeling exhausted from the lack of sleep he had last night, Cody tried to ignore it and tried to go back to sleep, when he realized the noise wasn't stopping. When Cody opened his eyes, frustrated to once again find himself in his old bedroom, he drowsily looked around the room to find out what was causing the noise. And he was surprised to find out it was coming from his old alarm clock, resting on the night table next to his bed.

_Huh? Since when was the alarm set?_ Cody wondered as he reached out for the clock to press the snooze button, then to turn the alarm off.

Cody then rolled over on his back, and stared at the ceiling as troubled thoughts crossed his mind. He could not believe he was back at the Tipton. At any other time, he would've been overjoyed to be back at the luxurious hotel he'd called "home". But this just...baffled him. A situation so ridicluous he never would've believed it would happen in real life was now right in front of his eyes. How in the world could he go to bed on the S.S Tipton and then suddenly wake up back in his home?

And Zack. Whatever happened to him only made the situation even worse. How could Zack not remember living on the S.S Tipton? He'd just pranked Cody on the ship last night for goodness sake! And now he didn't remember any of it. Not a single thing. What happened that made him forget it all?

That was what Cody wanted to know. Not just Zack's case, but the entire situation. What caused this whole problem?

Cody didn't know. And the fact that he didn't know scared him. Because if he didn't know how they got into this problem, then he wouldn't be able to figure out how to get _out of_ it. And that would mean they might not be able to get out of the problem at all. And that was very bad, because Cody _had_ to get out. He _had_ to be back on the S.S. Tipton. He _had _to have all his friends there back. Cody remembered what Zack had said last night about it all being a dream, but he _knew _it wasn't. He'd been having all sorts of adventures on that ship for almost 2 years. He knew all that couldn't just be some little dream. It was the life he was living, and needed to get back.

But what was he going to do? He had no idea. So all Cody could do at that moment was hopelessly stare at the ceiling hovering over him.

Just then, he heard his mother's voice coming from right outside the door. "Boys, you'd better hurry up and come get your breakfast if you don't want to be late for school!" She called out.

The last word had caught Cody's attention. _School? _They... were going to school here?

"Uh," Cody nervously said as he got out of bed and rushed towards their bedroom door, "What?"


	4. Chapter 4

**I apologize for not updating in a long time. But here is chapter 4 at last. Enjoy!**

Cody swiftly walked out the bedroom door, followed by his sleepy brother who had just awoken from the sound of their mother's voice."Did you say we're going to school?" Cody asked. Carey turned around and looked at her son, looking surprised. "Yes, I did," She answered concerned, "Please tell me you didn't forget about school. I could understand Zack, but you?"

"No, I did not forget about school!" Cody clarified. "Oh, thank goodness." Carey said with a sigh of relief. "It's just that..." Cody went on, "...Didn't you send me and Zack to Seven Seas High?" Carey's relief went away as a look of confusion appeared on her face. "What?" She said.

_Oh no, _Cody thought. _Mom doesn't remember either! _Could he try to jog her memory as well? "You know," Cody tried to explain calmly, "The school on the S.S. Tipton? You sent me and Zack to live there for the whole school year, remember?" "Ugh!" Zack irritably groaned, "Not again with the whole 'S.S Tipton' thing!" Carey ignored Zack and looked back at Cody. "Honey, do you have some sort of fever?" She asked worriedly, putting her hand over Cody's forehead to check if it was warm.

She still didn't remember. _Of course she wouldn't_, Cody realized. If Zack couldn't remember going to Seven Seas High, then neither would his mother.

Cody sighed. "Mom, I'm not sick," He informed his mother as he pushed her hand away, "It's nothing. Forget I ever said anything and let's just go have breakfast." He gave Carey a small smile to reassure her that everything was alright - at least from her perspective everything was alright. "Good," Carey responded, and the three of them walked over to the dining table to eat breakfast.

While Carey and Zack contently ate their breakfast, Cody chewed mere nibbles. He couldn't stop worrying. About suddenly waking up back home. About Zack and his mother not remembering anything about Seven Seas High. Suddenly, he realized something. _Zack and Mom have no clue what I'm talking about when I talk about Seven Seas high. They act like we've never went to that school, and that we've been going to Cheevers High School all along. It's as if we never went on the S.S. Tipton..._

Now he knew what happened.

Cody must've woken up in some sort of "world" where he and Zack had never gone to Seven Seas High. Here, they were still going to Cheevers High. That was why he woke up back home. And the reason Zack and Carey didn't remember Seven Seas High was because he and Zack never went there.

But what was this "world" where they'd never gone to Seven Seas High? An alternate universe, perhaps? That had to be it. Especially since the ship was last headed towards the Bermuda Triangle, which was known to create alternate universes. So in the middle of the night, the ship must've entered the Bermuda Triangle and it created an alternate universe where the twins never went to Seven Seas High.

Despite still feeling perturbed by this whole situation, Cody felt a sense of accomplishment, having just figured out how they got into the problem. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get out.

_How exactly are we going to get out? _He wondered.

"Cody, hurry up, you're going to be late!" Carey said.

Cody quickly finished the remains of his breakfast and got up from the table. He would figure this out after school.


	5. Chapter 5

Throughout the day, Cody observed as he and Zack lived at their old home, went to their old school, interacted with their old friends - basically lived their old lives.

Cody still even had his old girlfirend, Barbara. When he and Zack arrived at school, she ran up to Cody the moment she saw him, and pulled him into a rough kiss. Though baffled by this at first, Cody remembered what was going on and decided to play along. It was as if he'd been with Barbara all these years, and never met Bailey, let alone become a couple with her. And even though they had recently broken up, he just couldn't picture being with Barbara instead of Bailey. He deeply missed Bailey... along with all his other friends, of course. Cody needed to get back somehow. Sure, having his old life back was nice, but he much preferred his current life.

It was now after school, and Zack and Cody were walking home.

Zack was yapping on and on about useless things as usual. Cody was not paying much attention - he was still thinking about the situation they were in, and trying to figure out how to get out. He was also trying to figure out how they got into this alternate universe. True, it was because they crossed the Bermuda Triangle, but he needed to find out exactly why they got into _this kind _of alternate universe.

"...And the moment he opened his locker, his face got squirted with purple goo!" Zack joyfully concluded, laughing as if his pranks were actually funny. "...Ah, good times." It was at that moment when Zack noticed the solemn expression on his brother's face, he knew something was wrong."Something on your mind, Codes?" He asked, all signs of excitement fading from his expression. "It's nothing," Cody muttered.

"Come on, Cody!" Zack said, "You're my twin brother, you think by now I'd know whenever you're upset. So what is it?"

" I told you, it's nothing," Cody replied, this time sounding a little angry.

"Cody, just spit it out." Zack demanded, pulling Cody back and stopping him from walking any further. He firmly held Cody in his grip, so Cody couldn't escape. "Why should I tell you? You're just not going to believe me!" He snapped. "Cody, of course I'll believe you," Zack sincerely told him, "Now just tell me what's wrong."

Cody contemplated this. Zack didn't believe him when he explained it earlier, and he wasn't so sure he would do so now. But Zack seemed genuine about his promise to trust Cody, which meant he might actually believe the story. And it would be very useful if Cody told _someone_ what was going on. He would at least have someone to help him fix this problem, even if that someone was Zack. Plus, Zack probably wasn't going to let either one of them go home until Cody told him what was wrong, and it was starting to get a little chilly outside.

He sighed, before beginning. "Zack, you're not going to believe this at all, but we actually live on the 'S.S. Tipton'. The reason we live on that ship is because there's this school there called "Seven Seas High" which we go to. Moseby is the manager of the ship, and London is there, too. Not only that, but we have lots of friends there, like Woody, Marcus, and even this girl Bailey, who was my girlfriend for a while, but we broke up. Anyways, all this time, we were living on the ship, but suddenly, last night, we ended up here. My theory is that we crossed the Bermuda Triangle overnight, and it created this alternate universe where you and I never went to Seven Seas High. Though I'm not quite sure why I can remember everything and no one else can. And I also don't know how to get us out of here and need some help figuring it out. There, do you believe that?"

Zack stared at Cody blankly before responding. "Sorry, I zoned out after 'you're not going to believe this at all'."

"Ugh!" Cody groaned as he facepalmed. "Okay, I'm going to tell you this one more time, in a much shorter explanation: We live on the S.S. Tipton, but we entered an alternate universe where we never went to the S.S Tipton. So we're not actually supposed to be living at home. We're really supposed to be living on the S.S. Tipton."

"Again with the stupid 'S.S. Tipton' story?" Zack complained.

This maddened Cody. "You see?" He said crossly, "I knew you wouldn't believe me! Even after you said you would."

"That's because no one would believe a story about alternate realities." Zack pointed out.

"Yeah, but I was hoping you would, being my brother and all! But even you can't do that. And now I'm stuck in this problem by myself!" Cody began stamping down the sidewalk, not looking back.

"Cody, wait!" Zack said guiltily, putting his hand on Cody's shoulder to stop him. But Cody did not respond, just simply shrugged Zack's hand off, which made Zack flinch.

Zack repentantly watched his twin brother walk away, until he was out of sight. Was Cody really _that_ upset about Zack not believing his story? Though it sounded like an absolutely ridiculous story, Cody seemed very serious when explaining it. _So it was true? _Zack wondered. If it came from anyone else, Zack wouldn't believe any of it, especially because of how far-fetched it sounded. But if Cody, his brother, said it was true, then it must've been true. Especially since Cody wasn't the type to make up tall-tales. Feeling ashamed about not believing Cody like he said he would, Zack decided to run home to find Cody. Little did he know that was not where Cody was headed.


End file.
